Staking apparatus with movable work holder



E- E. FRANZ STAKING APPARATUS WITH MOVABLE WORK HOLDER Aug. 21, 1951 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 20, 1948 lNl ENTOR E. E. FRANZ A TTORNEV Aug.21, 1951 E. FRANZ STAKING APPARATUS WITH MOVABLE WORK HOLDER Filed March20, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR E E. FRANZ AMP ATTORNEY Patented Aug.21, 1951 .STG. APPARATUS l VITH, MOVABLE WORK HOLDER d, N'. J assignorto Westerii Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y.,acorporation of New York .Application MarchZO, 1948, .Serial' No. 16,123

2' Glaims. 1

This invention relates to staking apparatus with movable workholdenrand'more particularly to apparatus for securing one article'toanother bystaking the" first article within an apparatus of the secondarticle.

In the manufacture of electricaiequipment' for the communication arts,metallic housings 'arerequired'for certain of' the electrical units.Some 'of' the housings become permanent parts of the electrical units inthat the'units are. embedded in a sealing compound within the containeror housings, While with other units; it is a requirement that thehousings be removable. :In such instances,- it has-been foundadvantageous to secure a thumb nut or'any' other suitable internallythreaded article to-the housings, a'portion of the article extendingthrough an aperture" in the "housing becoming apermanent' part of thehousings, yet free to rotate in=its'aperture.

*An object of the invention is to provide a staking apparatus whichis-simple in structure, semi-automatic in operation, and highlyefiicient in staking 'an article' wi-thin an aperture of anotherarticle.

'-' Withthis and other objects in-view; the invention comprises astaking apparatus having a frame-with asta'king unit mounted thereon andincluding a. reciprocable -plunger operable through singlecycles. Aholder for an article is movably mounted :on the frame forx.movementbetween a loading position and anroperatingsposition' to hold thearticles in their relative positions for assembly, one of vthearticleshaving a portion extending through an aperture of the other article.Meansis actuated uponmovement of the holder awiththe'articlesintooperating position to cause operation of .the .unit to actuate theplungerto stake one of the articles within the ap rtureof theothersarticle.

. .zThe. holder includes .an :anvil to support the apertured artiole'andis formed to cause outward flaring of the innerzportion of thesecondarticle during the staking operation. .The: anvil is sentrally.aperturedxto-receive a-locating pin to centrally locate .thewsecond:article within the apertul'e Ofthe first article and to beforceddownwardlyagainstits supporting, spring during the swaging operation. Inthe :presentembodiment of the invention, the swaging unit is afluid-perated unit similar; to commercially .known riveters. .It isundenzthecontrol of a fluid valve actuated-by a solenoid which isenergized by the closing of a microswitch during movement of the holderwith the articlesinto operating position. ;.-'.Other objects andadvantages :will ,be apparent from the gfollowing detailed description,-when considered in conjunction with vthe accompany- .ing drawings,wherein .ing the relationshipof the particlesatthe end oftheswagingxoperation; and

Fig. 6 is-an enlargedfragmentary"detailed view ofjthe assembledarticles.

. Referring now to "the "drawings; attention: is

first directed to thearticles-whichrareto beassembled-by the apparatus.The first article :H]

is a, sheet metalcontainer or housing having an open end II anda'.closed end"|2,. an aperture'l 4 being centrally located'in'the closedend-l 2"of the article. The second article I5 is in the form of anuthaving arelativelylthin tubular portion r6 integral with thelower.portionof the article to extend freely through theapertureltldas. i1-lustratedin Figs. 4 .and 5.";The functionfof the apparatus is to .stake.the article ,.,I 5 within. the

aperture M ofthearticle lllso; that it will be a permanent part of thearticlev lll but free to rotate .in theaperture [4 thereof whereby itmay be securedrto a threadedportionofan electrical unit to be housed inthe article ID.

. The apparatus includes a main. frame-l8, supporting a swaging unit. l9.whicl-imay be.of:the

commerciallyknownfluid:operated type of swagving or riveting unit.Thelplunger 2fl-of the unit l9 isnormally heldnpwardly. and is moveddownwardly by fluid under pressure supplied to'the unit [9 from a fluidline2i iwhen a valve 322 is :open.. Theyalve 22 includes aap1ungere23normally closed in a conventional manner by. a spring and :openedby the:actuationrof a lever 25 during energization of asolenoid:26.l;'l2he;so-1e- .noid .25 is mounted-onthemainframer1:8 :asshown in Fig. land has :its;cor 12:! connected totan actuating rodrzs:through a .linkrZS- The actuating rod..28 has a vertical portion-ijournalled .for rocking movementin anbearing 3l1-of ithe unit l 9.

The vupper.end:of the. rod extends through the lever .25: and is pinned:thereto. awhereby energize.- tion. ofqthesolenoid 26, willnock "thelever 25 clockwise to actuate the plunger 23 to open the valve 22.

A holder 33 of the contour shown has a bifurcated lower portion 34straddling the adjacent portion of the frame I8 and pivotally secured tothe frame at 35. The holder 33 is centrally apertured at 31 throughoutits upper portion to support an anvil 38 in the upper end thereof, theanvil being supported by a threaded member 39 adjustably positioned in athreaded portion 40 of the aperture 31. The anvil 38 is circular incross-section having a concaved annular groove H to receive the innerend of the tubular portion I6 of the article I5 and cause outwardflaring of this portion, as illustrated in Fig. 5, during the swagingoperation. The anvil 38 is centrally apertured at 42 to receive alocating pin 43 having a head portion 44 positioned within an enlargedportion of the aperture 42 and backed by a spring 45, normally urgingthe locating pin outwardly. The spring 45 is disposed in a centralaperture 46 of the threaded member 39, a portion of the aperture beingthreaded to receive a screw 41 which supports the spring and by the aidof which the spring may be compressed as desired to vary the forceapplied to the locating pin, particularly during the swaging operation.

The holder 33 may be moved clockwise (Fig. 1) into its loading position,away from the plunger 20 where assembled articles may be removed fromthe holder and new articles I and I disposed thereon for assembly. Alever 50, pivotally supported at 5| on the frame I8, has an abuttingblock 52 carried by an arm 53 thereof, to be engaged by the article IDon the holder 33, when moved into operating position, to function notonly in aligning the holder with the articles centrally of the plunger20, but to cause actuation of a microswitch 55 to energize the solenoid26. The other arm of the lever 50 carries an adjustable screw 56positioned to engage a resilient portion 51 of the switch 55, which whenflexed inwardly will actuate a plunger 58 to operate the normally openswitch into closed position. Adjustment of the screw 56 W111 vary thepoint at which the switch will be closed during counterclockwisemovement of the holder 33 with the articles I0 and I5 into the operatingposition.

Considering now the operation of the apparatus, let it be assumed thatthe holder 33 is in the loading position out of alignment with theplunger 20. The operator may at this time lower an article I0 onto theholder until its closed end comes to rest on the anvil 38. It will benoted that the outwardly flared upper end of the holder partiallyconforms to the article I0 and this formation, cooperating with theanvil, will position the article ID centrally on the holder with itscenterline, coincident with the centerline of the holder and the anvil.Furthermore, the aperture l4, being centrally positioned within theclosed end I2, will be accurately located to receive the tubular portionl6 of the article I5. When the article I5 is placed on the holder, it isaccurately located with respect to the article It by the locating pin 43extending substantially through the threaded aperture of the article.

The operator may then move the holder 33 with the articles I0 and I5thereon in a counterclockwise direction (Fig. 1). During this movement,the article I0 will engage the abutting block 52 and rock the lever 50clockwise about its pivot 5I, causing the screw 56 to flex the member 51to depress the plunger 58 and operate the switch 55 into closedposition. At this time, through the control of the lever 50, the holder33, with its articles I0 and I5, will be in alignment with the plunger20 which is operated through a single cycle as a result of energizationof the solenoid 26 and operation of the valve 22. When the solenoid 26is energized, the actuating rod 28 is rocked in a clockwise direction(Fig. 2) to rock the lever 25, depressing the plunger 23 and opening thevalve 22, allowing fluid under pressure to pass through the valve intothe unit I9 from the supply line 2I to actuate the plunger 20 through asingle cycle. As the plunger 20 moves downwardly, it engages the articleI5, forcing it toward the anvil 38, causing the inner end of the tubularportion I6 to flare outwardly where the outer edges thereof will extendbeyond the periphery of the aperture I4, permanently securing thearticle I5 to the article I0, leaving the article I5 free to rotatewithin the aperture I4. In successive operations of the apparatus thesame result will be accomplished owing to the dimensional requirementsof the articles. The material of the articles or containers I0 must beof a given thickness or the articles will not be accepted. Certainlimitations are also placed on the articles or nuts I5. Their dimensionsmust be within given limits otherwise they will not be accepted.Therefore, the operation of the apparatus on any accepted article I0 andarticle I5 will assure permanent connection of the articles, leavingarticle I5, not only free for rotation, but free for lateral or tiltingmovements to align the axis of the article with the centerline of thethreaded element upon which the article is to be mounted.

When the staking operation has been com-- pleted, the operator returnsthe holder with the assembled articles to the loading position and indoing so, the lever moves by gravity and the force of the member 51 toallow the switch to open to deenergize the solenoid 26 and close thevalve 22. The assembled articles may be re moved from the holder and twomore articles I0 and I5 mounted thereon for the next operation of theapparatus.

It is to be understood that the above described arrangements are simplyillustrative of the ap plication of the principles of the invention.Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled inthe art which will embody the principles of the invention and fallwithin the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for connecting a nut, having a projecting portion with aperiphery smaller than the main portion of the nut, to an aperturedhollow article for rotation of the nut relative to the hollow article atthe aperture thereof, the apparatus comprising an anvil having an outersurface and a. groove therein of a given depth to cause forming of theprojecting portion, an element extending from the anvil to hold the nutin a given position and align the projecting portion with the groove, aholder supporting the anvil and the element at given relative positionsand having an outer surface concentric therewith to engage the innersurface of the hollow article to align the aperture of the article withthe groove of the anvil and cause the portion of the article adjacentthe aperture to rest on the outer surface of the anvil, a frame, meanson the frame to support the holder for movement between a loadingposition and an operating position, an operable unit mounted on theframe and having a ram reciprocable through an operating cyele and a t0q ce the n ow h anvil whereby the projecting portion of the nut will beforced outwardly by the groove of the anvil sufficiently to connect thenut against displacement to the article and for free rotation of the nutrelative to the article, and means actuated by the loaded holder uponmovement thereof into the operating position to cause operation of theunit.

2. An apparatus for connecting a nut, having a projecting portion with aperiphery smaller than the main portion of the nut, to an aperturedhollow article for rotation of the nut relative to the hollow article atthe aperture thereof, the apparatus comprising an anvil having an outersurface and a groove therein of a given depth to cause forming of theprojecting portion, an element extending from the anvil to hold the nutin a given position and align the projecting portion with the groove, aholder supporting the anvil and the element at given relative positionsand having an outer surface concentric therewith to engage the innersurface of the hollow article to align the aperture of the article withthe groove of the anvil and cause the portion of the article adjacentthe aperature to rest on the outer surface of the anvil, a frame, meanson the frame to support the holder for movement between a loadingposition and an operating position, an operable unit mounted on theframe and having a ram reciprocable through an operating cycle andadapted to force the nut toward the anvil whereby the projecting portionof the nut will be forced outwardly by the groove of the anvilsuficiently to connect the nut against displacement to the article andfor free rotation of the nut relative to the article, control meansactuable to cause operation of the unit, and an element movablysupported by the frame to be engaged by the loaded holder upon movementthereof toward the operating position and to be moved thereby to actuatethe control means to cause operation of the unit when the nut and thegroove of the anvil are aligned with the ram.

ERWIN E. FRANZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

